Mathurin Jacques Brisson (; 30 April 1723 – 23 June 1806) was a French
zoologist
Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...
and
natural philosopher
Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe, while ignoring any supernatural influence. It was dominant before the developme ...
.
Brisson was born on 30 April 1723 at
Fontenay-le-Comte
Fontenay-le-Comte (; Poitevin dialect, Poitevin: ''Funtenaes'' or ''Fintenè'') is a Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Vendée Departments of France, department in the Pays de la Loire Regions of France ...
in the
Vendée
Vendée () is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur as the curator of a large private collection of objects related to natural history that de Réaumur kept at his ancestral home at Réaumur in the Vendée. Originally published by F. W. Peters in 1951 as ''Die Entwicklung Der Ornithologie von Aristoteles bis zur Gegenwart''.
Brisson became interested in the classification of animals and was influenced by the works of
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
and Jacob Theodor Klein. His book ''Le Règne animal'' was published in 1756, and the highly regarded six-volume work ''Ornithologie'' was published in 1760.
The English ornithologist
Alfred Newton
Alfred Newton Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS HFRSE (11 June 18297 June 1907) was an England, English zoologist and ornithologist. Newton was Professor of Comparative Anatomy at Cambridge University from 1866 to 1907. Among his numerous public ...
wrote of Brisson's ''Ornithologie'' that it was "a work of very great merit so far as it goes, for as a descriptive ornithologist the author stands even now unsurpassed;...". For each species Brisson clearly indicated whether he had examined a specimen or whether he was relying on descriptions by other authors. Although in Brisson coined a Latin name for each bird species, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature
The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries.
Orga ...
(ICZN). However, Brisson also introduced names for
genera
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...
and these are accepted by the ICZN. Linnaeus relied heavily on Brisson's work when updating his ''
Systema Naturae
' (originally in Latin written ' with the Orthographic ligature, ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Sweden, Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the syste ...
'' for the twelfth edition in 1766. Linnaeus added 386 bird species of which 240 were based exclusively on Brisson.
De Réaumur died in 1757 and although in his will he left his large collection to the
French Academy of Sciences
The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...
, it was instead absorbed into the "Cabinet du roi", the royal natural history collection in Paris. Brisson abandoned zoology and in 1762 succeeded
Jean-Antoine Nollet
Jean-Antoine Nollet (; 19 November 170025 April 1770) was a French clergyman and physicist who conducted a number of experiments with electricity and discovered osmosis. As a deacon in the Catholic Church, he was also known as Abbé Nollet.
Bio ...
as professor of physics at the College of Navarre in Paris.
For a period of time, Brisson was an instructor of physical sciences and natural history to the family of the monarch. From 1759, he was a member of the Academy of Sciences.
A significant work involving the "
specific weight
Specific may refer to:
* Specificity (disambiguation)
* Specific, a cure or therapy for a specific illness
Law
* Specific deterrence, focussed on an individual
* Specific finding, intermediate verdict used by a jury in determining the fin ...
of bodies" was his ''Pesanteur Spécifique des Corps'' published in 1787. In his investigations of
electricity
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...
, Brisson was opposed to the theories of Priestley and Franklin.
He married Marie-Denise Foliot de Foucherolles on 24 April 1775. They had three children.
He died on 23 June 1806 at
Magny-les-Hameaux
Magny-les-Hameaux () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.
Population
Education
There are four preschools: Ecole Francis Jammes, Ecole André Gide, Ecole Petit Prince, and Ecole Jean Ba ...
near Versailles.
Publications
*
* With uncoloured engraved illustrations by
François-Nicolas Martinet
François-Nicolas Martinet (1731 - c. 1800) was a French engineer, engraver and naturalist. Although trained as an engineer and draftsman, he began to produce engravings for books and it later became his primary profession.
Martinet's year of b ...
.
*
Volume 1Volume 2Volume 3
*
*
Volume 1Volume 2Volume 3
* ''Trattato elementare ovvero Principi di fisica.'' Grazioli, Florenz 1791.
* ''Die spezifischen Gewichte der Körper.'' Leipzig 1795.
* ''Suplemento al Diccionario universal de física.'' Cano, Madrid 1796–1802.
*
* ''Anfangsgründe der Naturgeschichte und Chemie der Mineralien.'' Mainz 1799.
* ''Instruction sur les nouveaux poids et mesures.'' Paris 1799.
*
* ''Elements of the natural history and chymical analysis of mineral substances.'' Ritchie, Walker, Vernor & Hood, London 1800.
* ''Tratado elemental ó principios de física.'' Madrid 1803/04.
References
*
External links
* Gallica has a free digital download of Brisson, Mathurin-Jacques ''Ornithologia sive Synopsis methodica sistens avium divisionem in ordines, sectiones, genera, species, ipsarumque varietates'' Leiden (1760–1763) in Microforme The French word for Search is Recherche. ''Dictionnaire raisonné de physique, 2nd éd, Planches'' –
Linda Hall Library
The Linda Hall Library is a privately endowed American library of science, engineering and technology located in Kansas City, Missouri, on the grounds of a urban arboretum. It claims to be the "largest independently funded public library of sc ...